Traditional fishermen limit forays into the Caribbean over fear of US strikes

Times are tough for Manuel Yepes, a traditional fisherman who has been working for years along Colombia’s Caribbean coast.

During this time of year, he would be in a twin-engine boat, dozens of miles from the shore, searching for tuna fish, marlin and other large species that sell well with local restaurants and processing plants.

But recently, the veteran fisherman has been working only a mile from the shore of his hometown of Santa Marta, where the catch is smaller, and not as profitable.

“The US bombings are keeping us from fishing in the open seas,” Yepes said after he pulled out a dozen small fish from the water, using a nylon line.

“We’re afraid of what could happen to us if we go out there,” he explained while his catch wriggled on the deck of his narrow boat.

In the past two months, the Trump administration has shot down more than 20 small boats in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific, citing a controversial campaign against drug traffickers and putting military pressure on Venezuela’s government.

Some of the boats that have been hit have a similar shape and size to those used by traditional fishermen in Santa Marta and other parts of Caribbean, when they go far into the sea.

And that has made fishermen like Yepes, fearful that they could be targeted by mistake.

As a precautionary measure, Yepes and many of his colleagues in the Colombian city of Santa Marta have canceled long sea voyages and left their larger boats on the beach. 

They are now using narrow, 18-foot-long boats, and staying within sight of the city’s shore, where they can catch a small kind of blue runner known locally as cojinua.

“It’s not as profitable as tuna fishing,” Yepes said. He explained that he can make up to $1,000 a week at the height of the tuna season, when he teams up with other fishermen and heads to spots that are 30 or 40 nautical miles from the coast.

The blue runners Yepes is now catching weigh about seven ounces and sell for 25 cents of a dollar a piece. In a day, Yepes can catch anywhere from 50 to 150 of these little fish.

Leonardo Vega, the president of the Santa Marta Fishing Captains Association, said that some fisher families in the city are just eating two meals a day now, due to their reduced incomes.

Still, his association is telling Santa Marta’s 300 or so traditional fishermen to stay close to the shore.

“We don’t want more victims in the war against drugs,” Vega said.

Vega claims that on Sept. 15, the US military killed Alejandro Carranza, a local fisherman who has been missing for more than two months.

He pointed to footage of the Sept. 15 strike released by the US government showing a boat with two outboard engines floating on the sea. Two people can be seen sitting on the deck, before the boat explodes. Although the faces are not recognizable, Vega believes that Alejandro Carranza was one of those on board.

“The bow of the boat is slightly rounded, just like on the boats we use,” Vega said. “And there are two [outboard] engines on the boat. Drug traffickers will use three or four engines, because they need to move their product fast, so if you see two engines, that’s a fishing boat” he said.

Carranza was last heard from on Sept. 13, when he told his family he was going on a fishing trip. His body has not been found, increasing speculation over his fate.

The Trump administration has not responded to allegations that the US military killed the Santa Marta fisherman. Although, US officials have said that their operations in the Caribbean are targeting proven drug traffickers.

But regardless of who was on the boat, the incident has made fishermen in Santa Marta cautious, and fearful of straying far from the shore.

Vega said that local fishermen will need subsidies from the Colombian government to make up for the income they are losing. He is also trying to convince the Colombian navy to accompany traditional fishermen, so that they can go deeper into the sea.

“Let us work,” Vega said. “There needs to be a contingency plan for these kinds of anti-drug operations.”

In Providencia, a Colombian island in the western Caribbean, fishermen say they’re also afraid of US strikes, because there are drug trafficking routes close to their fishing spots.

Edgar Jay, the director of the Providencia Fishers Association, said that fishing boats on the island usually have one or two outboard engines, but they’re shaped like some of the boats that have been hit by the US military.

“Ninety-nine percent of our fleet is made up of small boats,” Jay said. “So, there’s a chance we could be confused for drug traffickers.”

Jay added that boats from the island are going out in groups now for more safety. He argued the Trump administration is breaking the law with its air strikes against suspected drug traffickers.

“He can take people and present them to the judge,” Jay said.  “But he is no judge. And he is no God to decide [about] people’s lives.”